Track tank



May 27 1924.

S. OTIS TRACK TANK Filed Oct. 19. 1023 JI/l/l/M 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Patented May 27, 19 24.

SPENCER OTIS, or BARBmeToN, ILLINOIS. V

To all whom 2'25 may concern Be it known that I, SPENCER OTIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Barrington, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Track Tanks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to tanks combined with. railway tracks in a relation that permits a tank car to be spotted over the track tank and to discharge its contents into the tank by gravity. The most desirable place for a tank of this kind is between the rails of the track, and it has been proposed to place tanks in this relation and to provide them with covers which may be opened when the contents of a spotted car is to be discharged. But arrangements of this kind as heretofore'constructed have proven inadequate because of the necessary close re lation of the tank to the rails and to the mass of earth immediately beneath the rails which'supports the load of rolling stock passing over the rails, experience having taught that frequently the tendency of the supporting earth to flow laterally under the load displaces the sides of the tank and impairs the road bed; also because of the eXacting conditions imposed upon the covers of tanks in such situations, which, when closed, must supply the inter-rail supporting surface of the track.

The present invention remedies one of the difficulties above set forth by constructing a tank to be located between the rails of a track and below the level of the rail, in the form of a cylinder or with a substantial extent of its walls, and particularly those portions which resist the pressure of the earth supporting the rails, of arched construction, so that the tank while having walls of reasonably light gauge of metal,

' will have ample capacity to resist the pressure of the earth which sustains the track; said walls being preferably braced by the introduction of struts where the crown of the arch is removed in forming the filling opening of the tank; and such filling opening being further reinforced by framing upon which the covers are mounted. And the present invention remedies the second of the aforesaid diflieulties by framing the cover opening through means of flanges upstanding from the edges of a removed sector of the cylinder, the chord of which is substantially less than the diameter of the cylin- TRACK TANK.

Application filed October 19, 1923. Serial No. 669,474.

and their framing is sustained by the substantial arches of the side walls; and by lapping the covers vertically upon the edges of the frame so that they assume waterproofing relation to the filling opening and estab lishing the hinging relation of the covers to the framing by means of rods secured to the covers and formed with eyes which intersect the cover framing beneath the lapping edges of the cover-s and establish a swinging connection without the use of pintles and pintle bearings or other closely fitting surfaces which would be soon destroyed by rust and abrasion in the situation of cover hinges which track tanks involve.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of a track tank embodying the several features of the present invention, the open position of the covers being shown in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the tank.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the same; and

Figure 4c is a view similar to Figure 1, showing in detail one of the covers and its hinged relation to the cover framing on an enlarged scale.

1 represents the rails of a railway track suitably supported upon stringers 2. 3 represents a tank embedded between the rails 1' and in position to receive by gravity the contents of a tank car that may be spotted over the tank. Tanks in such a situation are usually employed as a means for catching fluid material, and discharging it into a place of storage, and to that end, the present tank is equipped with a discharge outlet 4.

The track tank, according to thepresent invention, is in the form of a cylinder, the axis of which lies parallel with the rails 1 and the side walls 5 of the tank are curved upon a radius sufficiently small to present a substantial arch to the pressure of earth or other shiftable material forming the bed of the track, so that the walls of the tank may bemade of reasonably thin gauge metal without jeopardizing the integrity of the tank or the support of the track rails. For filling the tank, a sector of its cylindrical Wall is removed through a longitudinal ex tent of the tank substantially less than its whole length, in order to provide an opening 6 through which liquid may be deposited into the tank; and this sector is defined by a chord represented by the dotted F can line 7 in Figure 1, which is substantially less than a diameter of the cylinder and therefore leaves at the sides of the filling opening substantial portions of the side walls above the horizontal diameter 8, which are of arched form and presented in advantageous position to resist the caving load from the material of the road bed. The sustaining walls 5 of arched form are preferably braced by struts 9 welded to the walls intermediately of the opening 6 and the horizontal diameter 8, and at such points as will best adapt them to assume the load imposed upon Walls 5.

The filling opening 6 is framed by straight walls or flanges 10 upstanding from the defining edges of said. opening, and these constitute the mountings for the surface covers 11, which are required to not only develop a weatherproof closure for the tank, but constitute the surface level of the track whenever the filling opening is not covered by a car. To these ends, the covers 11 lap vertically on the framing 10, and are provided with hinges 12 securing them in swinging relation to said framing; the hinge comprising a bar 13 secured to the face of the cover, preferably by welding, and a downwardly and inwardly curved eye 14: passing through the framing 10; the cover being suitably slotted, as shown at 15 (Figures 3and i to receive the hinge, and the bearing of the hinge in the framing being afforded merely by the perforation 16, as best seen inl igure 1. The overhanging portions 17 of the covers, which project be yond the framing 10, may serve'as stops to limit the opening movement of the cover; and deflecting guards 18 welded to the undersides of the covers, in position to overhang the eyes 14 of the hinges, are preferably provide-(lite catch any port-ion of the deposited liquid which may splash upon the inside surfaces of the covers while standing in openvposition.

I claim:

1. In combination with a railway track and the rails thereof, a tank loca Jed between said rails in submerged relation thereto, having a capacity which occupies the greater portion of thespace of the road bed beneath the rails, and having arched side walls presented to the load imposed by the rails through said bed. upon the tank.

2.- In a. railway track tank, the combination of rails and a. supporting bed therefor, a-itank located between the rails and in submerged relation thereto, having a capacity which occupies the greater portion of the space of the bed beneath the rails, having a substantially cylindrical form, and positioned with the axis of itscylindrical parallel tothe rails.

3. In. combination with a railroad track, a tank located between and in submerged relation to the rails, constructed with arched walls through which it resists the load of the track, having the crest of its arch removed to provided a filling opening, and having a transverse strut between portions of its arch which define said opening.

4:. A railway track tank adapted to be submerged in a track bed between and below the level of the track rails, having the upper portions of its side walls which extend parallel with the rails arched to resists the load imposed by the rails through the road bed, having an upper sector of its side walls including the crest of its arch removed to provide a filling opening, and having said filling opening framed by upstanding flanges.

5. A railway track tank adapted to be submerged in a track bed between and below the level of the track rails, having the upper portions of its side walls which e1:- tend parallel with the rails arched to resist the load imposed by the railsthrough the road bed, having an upper sector of its side walls including the crest of its arch removed to provide a filling opening, having said filling opening framed by upstanding flanges, and having a. transverse strut extending between the remaining portions of its arched, walls below said opening.

6. A track tank adapted. to be submerged in a railroad bed between and below the level of the rails, said tank having a filling opening formed in the upwardly presented wallthereef, andhaving said opening framed by upstanding flanges, anda cover for said opening lapped upon said flange, provided with hinges constructed of bars secured to a face of the cover, and having their ends formed into eyes which penetrate the up standing flanges beneath the overlapping portion of the cover.

7. A track tank adapted to be submerged in a railroad bed between and below the level of the rails, said tank having a filling opening formed in the upwardly presented wall thereof, and having said opening framed by upstanding flanges, and a cover for said opening lapped upon said flange, provided. with. hinges constructed of bars secured to a face of the cover, and having their ends formed into eyes which penetrate the upstanding flanges beneath the over lapping portion of the cover; said cover hav ing upon its inner face, adjacent the inter secting portion of the hinge, a deflecting guard that directs material away from the hinge.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 15th day of October, 1923.

SPENCER O'llcli (iii 

